


The Longest Day of My Life

by helena_writes



Series: The Devil and Jack Bauer [2]
Category: 24 (TV), Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Afterlife, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bittersweet Ending, Character Study, Death, F/M, Future Fic, Guilt, Heaven, Hell, Hell Loops (Lucifer TV), Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21825580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helena_writes/pseuds/helena_writes
Summary: CAN BE READ EVEN IF YOU'VE ONLY SEEN ONE SHOW (see notes at the beginning)Probably geared more towards 24 fans, compared to the first fic.This fic explores Jack's emotions and anguish about his life, but Lucifer fans can enjoy the cameos!Lucifer, with the help of his trusty therapist, frees an old acquaintance of his guilt and self-loathing, so he can enter the Silver City and reunite with the woman he loves.SPOILERS: 24 Season 1, Season 2 (partial). This doesn't really spoil any mainline plots of Lucifer since this takes place well into the future, so any canonical events in the show aren't relevant.
Relationships: Jack Bauer/Teri Bauer
Series: The Devil and Jack Bauer [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1572679
Kudos: 15





	1. The Following Takes Place On the Day of the California Presidential Primary

**Author's Note:**

> ONLY SEEN 24?  
> Here's a recap of the first season of Lucifer (up to 2:00) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_a4UDOw9Rc  
> Essentially, 'hell loops' are manifestations of one's own guilt, that they must suffer through over and over again for all eternity, once someone has died, and their soul has entered Hell. 
> 
> ONLY SEEN LUCIFER?  
> Here's a recap of the first season https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNO_QWv_dZ8  
> Second season revolves around a nuclear bomb threat, which Nina is a key witness in.  
> I haven't seen beyond the second season, so I'm jumping the gun a little here and saying that Teri Bauer's death was the most significantly sad thing to happen to Jack.
> 
> Set many years after the peak of Jack Bauer's CTU career, where Jack has now passed away and finds himself in Hell.
> 
> All of the main adult characters in Lucifer have also died (at old age), so Lucifer now spends his time ruling Hell and visiting his friends in the Silver City.

Jack opens his eyes, and finds himself sitting across from his daughter, playing chess. He sees the clock, it's midnight.

"And it's a school night for you, so time for bed." He says without thinking, must be parental instinct.

"I love you. I'm glad you moved back in daddy." She replies, standing from her chair.

"Me too, sweet." 

As Kim closes her bedroom door, Jack walks over to Teri in the hallway, and they discuss their renewed living situation. Assuring her that Kim doesn't hate her, that she's just being a typical teenager, they walk to her room to say goodnight. Opening the door, they find that she's snuck out.

With impeccable timing as always, Walsh rings for Jack to get down to CTU immediately.

...

"We believe that by the end of the day an attempt will be made on David Palmer's life." Walsh states sternly in the meeting room. The other staff members are shocked, appalled even. Jack isn't entirely surprised, Palmer is potentially the first African-American president.

Walsh pulls Jack aside after, informing him with a grave sense of worry in his voice, that there may be a mole from CTU involved.

George Mason arrives from district. Jack knows he has information and threatens him with his embezzlement history if he doesn't comply.

Using the information, Jack and Walsh try to hunt down a lead, but Walsh dies. Again, Jack isn't entirely surprised.

...

There is an eery sense of déjà vu as the day progresses.

The lockdown at CTU, Kim being kidnapped, Janet at the hospital, abducting Nina and pretending to kill her, trying to distract the Secret Service and being arrested as the assassin instead, finding out the Drazens have a vendetta against him and David Palmer, faking his and the president's deaths, the list goes on, but Jack finds himself powerless in stopping any of these events.

...

"I trusted you Nina." Jack says with gritted teeth, driving the barrel of his gun into Nina's throat. He's heartbroken and furious, yes she betrayed him, but he feels as though there's something else he's angry about.

...

After reuniting with his daughter in the conference room, all Jack wants to do is hug his wife, now that this torturous day is over. He feels a bad omen, almost as if something's too good to be true.

Running down the hall, he sees a collapsed security guard, and two others attempting to revive him.

Opening the door to a small computer room, he sees the back of someone sitting in a chair, their arms tied, head slumped forward. Jack notices the person's familiar auburn, pixie cut, and rapidly spins to the chair around to see Teri.

She's lifeless, her skin translucent, white tank top stained crimson with bullet holes, no sign of movement in her chest. Teri's dead. And it's his fault.

Cradling her in his arms, he kisses her, runs his fingers through her hair, bawls as he apologises to the corpse in his hands.

...

_11:59:57_

_11:59:58_

_11:59:59_

...

Jack opens his eyes, and finds himself sitting across from his daughter, playing chess. He sees the clock, it's midnight.

He gasps, eyes widening in shock, feeling numb and hollow inside from the previous day's events.

But somehow he's in his house, Kim's fine, how did they get there so quickly from CTU?

"Dad, are you okay?" She asks, concerned at her father's startled expression.

"Your mother...she's..." He splutters his words.

"Over there?" Kim says, raising one eyebrow, pointing to the hallway.

"T-That's not possible, she's de-" He protests shaking.

Teri appears from the hallway. Relief floods over Jack's face as he runs to embrace her.

"Oh Teri... I'm so glad you're okay." He exhales, burying his face in the crook of her neck, tears welling in his eyes. She stumbles as he throws his body weight onto her, laughing in confusion and petting his head. 

"I was only doing the dishes Jack."

They suddenly find themselves at Kim's bedroom door. Teri calls out her name as she opens the door to an empty room.

"She snuck out." He says automatically.

Jack grabs his back pocket and fishes out his cell phone two seconds before it rings.

"I'll be there soon Walsh." He answers before quickly hanging up.

This isn't possible, he thought, why would Kim sneak out after being kidnapped last time she did so?

Why did he know Walsh was on the phone? Why was Walsh calling so urgently after they just saved the senator's life?

"Teri, something weird is going on." He said, a sombre look in his eyes.

Sitting down to talk, Jack explains the strange sense of premonition he's had, but before Teri can reply, he blinks and finds himself standing in the corner of a CTU conference room.

He jolts, planting his palms on the walls either side of him with a thud. Others turn to look at Jack, who now looks like a deer in headlights. However, not even seconds later, everybody has their backs to him, engaged in the meeting.

"We believe that by the end of the day an attempt will be made on David Palmer's life." Walsh states sternly in the meeting room.

"Again? Drazen's dead, who else could want to kill Palmer? And why is she still here?" Jack asks, his voice escalating as he points to a perplexed Nina.

Walsh furrows his brow in confusion, "Again? Drazen? Are you sure you're feeling okay, Jack?"

Jack isn't surprised at Walsh discussing the potentiality of a mole from CTU.

"It's Nina." Jack says with absolute certainty.

"Nina? How do you know?" Walsh becoming increasingly troubled by Jack's behaviour.

Before Jack can justify his claim, he blinks and he's shooting a tranquilliser at George Mason's leg. Disoriented, he stares at the gun in his hand like it's a strange object from another planet. He whips his head around to view his surroundings. It's his office. How did he get from the conference room to his office?

Jack has no time to process what's happened, because he now has to struggle to keep up with his seemingly possessed body. It seems if he questions the events that happen, time jumps to disrupt his train of thought. If he ignores the strangeness of the day, conversations slip into what feels like a pre-recorded script that Jack follows mindlessly. Rather than experience the vertigo-inducing time jumps, he mentally battles his urge to challenge every bad event around him. As he does so, he seems to forget about it, and blends into the occurrences. It's not until he finds himself holding his wife's body that everything hits him like a truck. He's just relived the day of the California presidential primary in every damn minute detail.

...

_11:59:57_

_11:59:58_

_11:59:59_

...

Jack opens his eyes, and finds himself sitting across from his daughter, playing chess. He sees the clock, it's midnight.

He screams, sliding his hands through his hair.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Kim asks, her mouth gaping slightly at her father's manic. Teri runs in from the hallway, equally surprised.

Jack sighs, shutting his eyes, breathing deeply, before re-entering the predisposed world.

Maybe this is some weird dream, was I drugged? Am I in a coma? Every logical explanation flicked through his mind, but none of them could adequately describe the hellish nightmare he was suffering through.

The day proceeded as before, Jack not attempting to resist this time. He did however, attempt to perturb small things in this world, a pen here, a stapler there. These changes didn't cause any time jumps, but larger things, like choosing a different weapon, shooting a different person in a mob first for strategic purposes, were prohibited by this strange world's laws of nature.

Despite full awareness that he was living in a repetitive cycle, Jack couldn't help but howl in agony when he found Teri, it seemed to be the most pivotal point of the day.

...

_11:59:57_

_11:59:58_

_11:59:59_

...

Jack opens his eyes, and finds himself sitting across from his daughter, playing chess. He sees the clock, it's midnight.

Jack had an idea. Knowing the limitations of the sequence, he hatched a plan to stop his wife dying, thinking it might be the thing that breaks the pattern.

He couldn't warn her about the day's events, she wouldn't listen, because he would be cut off by a jump.

He couldn't bring her to work with him, she would just be sent home.

What if he killed Nina? He thought. It would have to be well-before she kills Teri, which would be at approximately 11:20pm. But it couldn't be too early either, it would be too much of a disturbance for the sequence to handle.

First, he picked the moment he pretended to shoot Nina and push her from a cliff. The world didn't seem to question it, the day progressed as normal.

And like normal, Jack found himself shaking, as he held Teri's body again.

...

_11:59:57_

_11:59:58_

_11:59:59_

...

Jack opens his eyes, and finds himself sitting across from his daughter, playing chess. He sees the clock, it's midnight.

"Damn it!" He roars. That didn't work.

Next, he tries using her as a human shield at the hotel. She is shot, to Jack's hope, but the loop jumps and pretends she wasn't. He was able to manipulate the environment a bit more this time though, maybe that's a weak point, he wondered.

...

Jack's tried to distort every interaction he has with Nina over the 24 hours, but to no avail. There's only one opportunity left, but it doesn't make sense to try at that point. It's 11:45pm, he's rammed Nina with the car and holding her at gunpoint.

He knows she's already killed Teri. But Jack's exhausted. Delirious. Deteriorating. If he can't save his wife, then damn right he deserves to punish the woman who took her away.

Jack shoots her throat, her warm blood splattering all over him. Time doesn't jump, in fact it seems to stand still.

It's over, he thought. He did it.

The grey, concrete surroundings of the carpark seem to disintegrate, the other agents fade away, he looks down, his own blood-coated shirt magically reverts to it's traditional marine blue.

Ash-coated pillars of charcoal emerged from the ground, the sky was a dull cerulean. Everything around him seemed devoid of warmth. Of life. Where was he? He ruminated.

"Well, well. Looks like someone's been having fun with one of my Hell loops." An authoritative British accent fills the lacuna.


	2. The Doctor Will See You Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Guilt is perhaps the most painful companion of death." - Coco Chanel

A tall man with dark eyes in a suit approaches the very distraught and confused Jack.

"Wh-Where am I?" He asked, weakly. 

Getting a closer look at the figure appearing from the cloud of ash, he realised he had seen this man before, many years ago.

"Wait. I-I know you, why do I know you?" Jack stuttered, pointing a shaking finger, realising his gun has vanished.

"Ah, Mr Bauer, you don't remember me? I'm the one who reduced Nina Myers to tears in a record-breaking three minutes." Lucifer beamed with pride.

Jack flinched at hearing that woman's name, before experiencing a vivid flashback. 

It was the day of the nuclear bomb, all those years ago. George called him in. He was shattered with grief and took it out trying to interrogate Nina. There was a blonde woman, a detective, and a guy in a suit, a consultant. They had argued. But then the man had asked Nina a few simple questions, to which she responded by wailing and admitting everything she knew. It was her confession that allowed them to locate the bomb and save Los Angeles.

"Lucifer?" Jack asked, leaning forward to inspect the taller man's face before him.

"In the flesh." He smiled.

...

Since most of his friends and family were now residing in the Silver City, after he had been fortunate enough to stay with them throughout the bulk of their human lives, Lucifer had come to an agreement with his father. He would be able to visit them as he pleased, so long as he continued to punish souls in Hell.

When he wasn't enjoying company with his loved ones, Lucifer would sit in his throne and observe the souls coming through the barrier before they settled in their assigned loops.

One day, he felt a pang of vague familiarity. Curious, he followed the soul to the entrance of its new home. It was Jack Bauer.

After that day all those years ago, Lucifer had remained invested in the actions of Jack Bauer. He had been ruthless, or as some of his siblings would say, ethically ambiguous, in saving cities again and again from acts of terrorism. Despite punishment very much being Lucifer's thing, and generally not being very forgiving of those who exact violent revenge on others, he held a level of respect for Jack. Everything he did could be justified by the greater good. So he was interested to see what had manifested in his Hell loop. Lucifer expected it would be Jack killing one particular witness over and over again, similar to what his own loop with Uriel once consisted of. Instead, he was surprised to see a detailed 24 hour loop unfold. He awaited the ending, wondering what stunningly violent climax this day would come to. Lucifer felt his stomach lurch when he witnessed Jack find his wife's body. This was the core, he thought.

Jack didn't feel guilty about murdering terrorists, he felt guilty that he couldn't save his wife. 

Lucifer watched Jack grapple with the reality of the loop, as he tried to manipulate it to his advantage. It wasn't uncommon for souls to try and wrestle with the flow of the sequence. Every now and then, a soul so ridden with self-loathing and guilt would find it's way into Hell, despite being deserving of Heaven. It was those souls that must fight the loop to determine the precise source of their guilt. If they can demonstrate enough awareness, their soul could be allowed to ascend to Heaven. Jack's tenacity was certainly worth noting, he had progressed further in understanding the loop than most souls would have after such few repetitions. 

Lucifer couldn't stand to watch it. He knew this man deserved better after laying his life on the line so many times.

...

"You're in Hell, Jack." Lucifer stated matter-of-factly.

"Hell?" Jack asked, raising his eyebrows.

"When I said I was the Devil, I meant it." Lucifer replied frankly.

"It's because I'm a murderer, isn't it?" He said, defeatedly. He was too busy processing where he was to realise the severity of Lucifer's identity. 

"Not quite. You've actually done nothing wrong in the eyes of my father. Saving millions of lives by stopping a few terrorists in their tracks is hardly evil. You're only here because you think you need to be." Lucifer explained, sitting down on an off-set slab of brimstone, looking the sorrowful man in the eyes.

Jack looked puzzled.

"There's two factors that determine whether someone goes to Heaven or Hell. The first is their morality. I know you humans have loved debating your Bible for centuries, but quite simply, a good person is somebody with good intentions. They do things for the sake of bringing joy to the world, preventing sadness from interrupting someone else's happiness. And you definitely fit that bill. Secondly, is your perception of your own morality. If you're a good person and have enough faith in yourself, then off to the Silver City you go. Otherwise, if you have doubt and self-hatred, you end up in a Hell loop. A visual exhibition of your guilty conscience, perfectly constructed by Hell itself. And it's my job to authorise punishment on those who've spent their mortal lives unlawfully." He explained.

It all made sense now, Jack thought. He must have been in one of those loops before Lucifer showed up.

"So what you're saying is, if I can move past everything that's happened, I can go to Heaven?" He asked, his teary eyes full of hope.

"Precisely. It won't be easy, but I have somebody who can help you." Lucifer stood, placing a hand on the man's back, guiding him through a labyrinth of charcoal towers, before entering a well-lit modern office, complete with a stylish, grey couch and glass coffee table. A petite, blonde woman with glasses in a sensible, blue dress stood up from behind a desk.

"Oh, hello Lucifer." She greeted him cheerily, before turning to Jack, who looked around in astonishment at their transport.

"You must be Jack Bauer. I'm Dr Linda Martin, please take a seat." The woman introduced herself with a comforting voice. 

Cautiously, he sat on the comfortable couch, as he heard Lucifer shut the door and leave.

"Hell has a therapist?" He asked, laughing nervously.

Linda shook her head, with an infectiously positive grin. "I guess you could say that." She replied, sheepish.

"So you're what...an angel?" Jack couldn't even fathom the ridiculousness of what he was asking.

"Oh no, no, no. I'm human. Dead. But human. Basically, since I spent a good portion of my life acting as a therapist for the Devil, his angelic brother, and a demon, as well as giving birth and raising the first half-angel baby, I got a few extra perks when I came to Heaven."  
  


Jack blinked his eyes rapidly in bewilderment, "Wait...what?" He asked in disbelief.

"It's...a doozy, I know. The beauty of Heaven, or 'The Silver City' as it's usually called around here, is that you get to spend eternity in bliss. One thing I loved doing in my life was helping people, so it was determined that I could act as a sort of liaison in helping human souls make their decision about where they should go." Dr Martin elaborated. "Now, I've received a pretty hefty file of information about you from Azrael. But I want you to explain to me what was in your hell loop and why you think that was."

"Azrael?" Jack was so distracted by that peculiar name, he tuned out the rest of her sentence. All of this divinity was still being processed by his brain.

"The angel of death. She's the one who brought you here." Dr Martin stated a little too casually.

Jack looked surprised again.

"Yes, the angel of death is a chick!" Dr Martin exclaimed, raising her hands excitedly, to lift the mood. "Now, back to you. Why do you think your Hell loop was what it was?" She quickly changed her expression into something more studious and focused.

"Well, it all started at midnight, on the day of the California presidential primary, many, many years ago." He began, chuckling dolorously.

"A lot of things happened that day. I was working as a government agent, we were trying to stop an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate. In the process, I discovered that the people behind the assassination had a personal vendetta against the president and I, due to a past military operation gone wrong. Because of that, my wife and daughter were kidnapped. I wasn't on good terms with my wife before that day, I had only just moved back in after our separation. But nonetheless, I was so, so worried. The kidnappers forced my hand, and I had to sneak around a lot, trying to keep my family safe and the president." Jack described his story, a melancholy tone in his voice, as the therapist hummed sympathetically.

"At the end of the day, I discovered the reason my wife and daughter kept being found after rescue, was because Nina, a woman I worked with and trusted very much, maybe even loved..."

He paused poignantly at this part, he didn't even realise how far those feelings had gone. Jack sighed, before continuing with bitter undertones, "Had been acting as a mole this whole time. I cornered her as she tried to escape, and I had her right where I wanted her. I could have killed her. But I didn't, because I was surrounded by other agents, who implored that we needed her information." Dr Martin noticed Jack's voice begin to waver, as he finished recalling his account.

"Then after I was finally reunited with my daughter, I found my wife's body. Nina had killed her. If only I had known the full extent of what she had done when I had her cornered." He concluded, wistfully.

Linda nodded understandingly. Despite having spent most of her existence acting as a console, stories as heart-wrenching as this weren't common.

"Okay, so why do you think Hell chose to make you relive that day? You're a government agent, I'm sure you've had to kill some people before, was there anybody in particular you felt attachment towards?" She inquired.

"I don't think so, I've always believed that every person's life I've had to take, either intentionally or unintentionally, was for some greater cause. I've only ever killed terrorists or those who support them. If I hadn't, a lot of bad things would have happened, and a lot more people would have died." He replied, assured that he wasn't feeling guilt over his fairly justified murders.

"Then there must be some other reason this day was so significant for you? The obvious answer would be your wife's death, do you agree?"

Jack sighed, she was right. "I-I guess so. It makes sense. Every other moment that day felt routine, I wasn't emotional, I just went with the flow each time. But at the end...every time I found Teri's body, it felt like the first time. In fact, it was worse and worse every time. I felt like a failure, like I should have been the one to save her." 

"I take it once you realised you would be cycling through the day again, you tried to save Teri?" She asked, passing the man a box of tissues.

He spoke despondently through the tears rolling down his face. "I did. I knew I couldn't do much to change what would happen, the loop would just throw me forwards. But a few times I was able to hurt Nina, it felt good, I was hopeful that it would work, but then I'd be in the same position at the end. I was only able to kill her after Teri had already died."

"Why do you think it didn't work? That is, Nina killed your wife anyway, every time?" Dr Martin asked, seriously.

Jack was taken aback in confusion. He only just found out Hell truly existed, how could he possibly understand the complex mechanisms behind it? 

"Not an easy question, I know. But think of it this way, these loops have unlimited potential. It could have easily reworked itself to not let your wife die, by allowing you to kill Nina, what stopped it? Maybe, instead of wondering why your wife had to die, think about why Nina had to live in the moments leading up to that. After all, you were able to successfully kill her once, right?" Dr Martin analysed the situation.

The man thought considerably for a few minutes, the therapist was right, he'd only been thinking about what possible reasons Teri was killed. After all, he always admired her kindness, that was one of the biggest reasons for his grief, the fact that her beautiful soul was taken from the world. In that case, Nina must have served a purpose in the moments she was alive. Her betrayal aside, she did help Jack sneak out of CTU and avoid protocol when the kidnappers were blackmailing him. And after she was arrested, Nina gave valuable information about the nuke, which saved millions of lives that day. But hang on, Jack was able to kill her in the carpark, which he assumed was because Teri was dead. Say Nina hadn't killed Teri at that point, even though the loop never proved or disproved that theory. If Jack had killed Nina, she wouldn't have been able to give intel about the bomb, so they wouldn't have been able to find it and fly it out to the Mojave. It would have detonated and killed everybody in LA, which means...

"Teri would have died either way." Jack said heavily with realisation. "I-If I had killed Nina at the beginning, I couldn't have snuck around CTU, and the kidnappers would have killed her and Kim. If I killed Nina later, Teri might've been alive, but we never would have found the nuclear bomb, so it would have exploded and killed everybody, including her anyway." He heaved with relief, holding his head in his hands.

"I-It's not my fault. I don't have to blame myself anymore. Teri was a sacrifice, I don't think I'll be able to get past that, but because of her, Kim and the rest of LA were fine." Jack sighed, tears flooding down his face, this time of freedom.

"That's all I needed to hear, Jack. You've proven to yourself that you're not guilty for her death, so your Hell loop will crumble." The doctor twinkled. This was the best part of her job, Linda thought. Seeing people realise their self-hatred was all for naught, and learn to love themselves.

"Thank you doctor." Jack said, standing to leave, shaking her hand respectfully. She pulled him into a hug instead, which he awkwardly returned.

"You're a good person Jack, I'm just glad you see that too now." Linda whispered in his ear.

Opening the door, Jack was no longer facing the desolate vastness of Hell. Instead, he stood in a plain, white, seemingly endless room. 

"Welcome to Limbo Jack." Lucifer suddenly appeared, accompanied by a short girl with a dark bob.

"Lucifer!" He greeted the angel cheerfully. "Thank you so much for...well everything. I don't know how much more I could have taken of that loop."

"Of course! The devil only punishes those who deserve it, after all. Now go, walk with Azrael."

The girl stepped forward, extending her hand. The angel of death really was a chick, Jack thought. He took her hand in his, and began to follow, before halting suddenly.

"Oh! Before I go, I, um, don't really know if you're allowed to tell me this. But, what's it like?"

Lucifer grinned endearingly, "Well there's loops. You get to relive the happiest moments of your existence, each time like the first. Now stop interrogating me and go! Teri and Matthew are waiting."

"Matthew?" Jack asked, but the girl had already lead him onwards.


	3. Gift From God

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might need to brush your teeth after this fluff.

Jack is standing on the boardwalk in Venice. It's a beautifully sunny day, the wooden planks are alive with the sounds of rollerblades, children laughing, musicians playing. He sees Teri in line for snowcones, she's laughing with an old lady in line behind her. God, he's missed her laugh, Jack thought. She approaches the front of the line, and receives a three snowcones. 

Three? He wonders. Then he notices a young boy, blonde, who couldn't be more than five, standing at her side. She passes one to him, before turning around.

I have a son. Jack realises. Teri was pregnant when she died.

When Teri notices Jack, her eyes light up like Christmas lights, as they run to embrace each other. He kisses her intensely. Jack was home.

"Daddy! Daddy!" the boy cries excitedly. Bending down, Jack picks him up, taking a good look at his face.

"Hello Matthew." Jack can barely falter, before erupting into tears of joy.

Teri passes him a snowcone, and the three of them stroll along the boardwalk, as if it was just another day in paradise.

They reach the end of the path, Jack blinks and the loop resets.

...

He's in a hospital, cradling a newborn boy in his arms for the first time

"What do you think of Matthew? It means 'gift from God'?" Teri asked, half-asleep after giving birth, but somehow still radiating with happiness.

"It's perfect." Jack says, looking into the child's precious face.

Jack blinks and the loop resets.

...

George Mason is alive and well, much better than the last time Jack saw him. They talk as old friends, all grudges and work issues long-forgotten.

In this loop, he's Matthew's godfather, since George's son and wife aren't in the Silver City yet.

Jack blinks and the loop resets.

...

Jack spends eternity cycling through the various joys of his existence. Eventually, as other people finish their time on Earth, they all join each other's loops. 

When Kim dies, Jack is able to relive holding her in his arms for the first time. The four of them experience various loops as a family unit.

Everything is whole.

Jack has lived a good life, he accepts. And now this is his reward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always found the idea of Hell loops so fascinating to write about, makes for some good character study.  
> I also wanted a fluffy ending, yes the first loop is a direct reference to what Jack says to Nina in season 2 on the plane about Teri.


End file.
